Alan Kippax
Encyclopedia
Alan Falconer Kippax was a cricket
er for New South Wales
(NSW) and Australia
. Regarded as one of the great stylists of Australian cricket
during the era between the two World Wars, Kippax overcame a late start to Test cricket
to become a regular in the Australian team between the 1928–29 and 1932–33 seasons. A middle-order batsman, he toured England twice, and at domestic level was a prolific scorer and a highly considered leader of NSW for eight years. To an extent, his Test figures did not correspond with his great success for NSW and he is best remembered for a performance in domestic cricket—a world record last wicket partnership
, set during a Sheffield Shield
match in 1928–29. His career was curtailed by the controversial Bodyline
tactics employed by England on their 1932–33 tour of Australia; Kippax wrote a book denouncing the tactics after the series concluded.
Kippax was an “impeccably correct and elegant batsman, [with] an upright, easy stance at the wicket; like his schoolboy idol Victor Trumper
, he rolled his sleeves between wrist and elbow and excelled with the late cut”, who was probably at his peak during the 1920s. His omission from the 1926 team to tour England caused great controversy at the time—especially as he hit a brilliant 271 not out against Victoria
on the eve of selection. Kippax was well into his thirties by the time he became a consistent selection for the Test team. Highly regarded by both fellow players and spectators, Kippax's innings of 83 in the Lord's
Test of 1930 induced Neville Cardus
to comment that, "he pleased the eye of the connoisseur all the time."
suburb of Paddington
. He attended both Bondi and Cleveland Street Public schools. At 14, Kippax joined Waverley (now Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club) and was a regular in the first-grade team
within three years. At this stage, first-class cricket
was suspended because of World War I
, but when competition resumed in the 1918–19 season he made his debut for New South Wales
(NSW). However, the state possessed a lot of batting
talent, which was supplemented by the return to Australia of the Australian Imperial Forces cricket team
that played in England after the armistice
. Therefore, Kippax’s opportunities were restricted for a number of seasons. He also played a lot of baseball
with the Waverley Baseball Club (usually at third base
) and represented Australia against touring teams from American universities.
Kippax’s cricketing potential did not go completely unnoticed. He was offered a tour of New Zealand in the autumn of 1921. Playing in an Australian second team captained by the Test batsman Vernon Ransford
, he made only two half-centuries in nine innings. In the 1922–23 season, Kippax became a regular for NSW, scoring 631 runs at 90.14. and led the side's first-class averages. The next season he hit 248 in only 316 minutes against South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground
(SCG), then toured New Zealand with the NSW team skippered by Charlie Macartney. Kippax made two centuries in his 461 runs (average 92.2) on the tour.
He quickly won the respect of his fellow players and the spectators for his approach to the game. Alan McGilvray
describes Kippax's demeanour and presence on the field:
Journalists employed many superlatives to describe the Kippax style. Ray Robinson thought that Kippax's batting "had a silky quality not seen in any other player of his time or since"; he captivated the crowds with his late cut when he, "made a lissom bow over the ball and stroked it away with the bat's face downward, as if to squeeze the ball into the ground". His favourite hook shot propelled the ball "with such unhurried ease that the punishing power of the stroke was revealed only in the way the ball smacked against the fence." Donald Bradman
believed him to be the best exponent of the hook shot in the game.
Kippax began the 1924–25 summer with 115 for NSW against an Australian XI at the SCG
. In the Sheffield Shield he had scores of 127, 122 and 31, 212 not out and 40, earning him a first Australian cap (at the age of 27) in the final Test of the Ashes
series against England at Sydney. Sharing a 105 run partnership with Bill Ponsford
in the first innings, Kippax impressed with a score of 42 from number seven
. Wisden
commented that the partnership “turned the fortunes of the game”, and Australia went on to victory.
called the non-selection a “crime against the cricketing youth of Australia”. His omission is usually attributed to "interstate parochialism" and was a "triumph of dullness over batting artistry." Australia surrendered the Ashes on the tour, with much of the blame for the loss directed at the team’s skipper, Herbie Collins
. After he returned to Australia, administrators relieved Collins of the captaincy of his grade team and NSW, thus creating an opportunity for Kippax.
Installed as leader of NSW, Kippax earned a reputation as one of Australia’s leading batsmen over the next three years. His captaincy “welded with wit, kindness and some practical joking a raw team into a formidable unit, nurturing such youngsters as Archie Jackson
, Stan McCabe
and (Sir) Donald Bradman
”. He hit a century
in each innings against Queensland
in their inaugural Sheffield Shield match in 1926–27. The following season he registered the highest score of his career, 315 not out in 388 minutes versus Queensland at the SCG. Bradman wrote of this performance, "... although they say Victor Trumper
was even more beautiful to watch, it is hard to conceive more graceful batting than our skipper produced on that occasion." Kippax ended the season with 926 runs at an average of 84.18.
The Test selectors still had Kippax under consideration and during March 1928, he again toured New Zealand with an Australian second team, but failed to pass 40 in the seven innings he played. Restored to the Test team for the beginning of the 1928–29 Ashes series, Kippax made just 50 runs in four innings. Australia slipped to two heavy defeats and Kippax's place was in jeopardy.
During the second Test at Sydney, Kippax was the central figure in the most controversial incident of the summer. Early in Australia’s first innings, Kippax had nine runs on the board, when:
At the conclusion of the Test, Kippax travelled to Melbourne where he led NSW in a Sheffield Shield match beginning on 22 December. At stumps on the second day, NSW was staring at defeat as they were seven for 58 in pursuit of Victoria’s first innings of 376. When play resumed on Christmas Day, NSW slipped to nine for 113, with Kippax 20 not out. However, the number eleven batsman Hal Hooker
stuck with his captain as the score gradually mounted and the opposition’s frustrations grew.
By the end of play, Kippax was well beyond his double century. The following day, when the stand was finally broken after 307 runs had been added in 304 minutes, Kippax stood on 260 not out. This "most remarkable of all world batting records," still stands today as the highest last-wicket partnership in first-class cricket.
Retaining his place for the third Test that started just days later on the same ground, Kippax maintained his superb form and hit his maiden Test century in Australia’s first innings. With Australia struggling against the pace
of England's Harold Larwood
, Kippax steadied the innings and then launched an assault on Larwood, hooking
him for four boundaries. Journalist Ray Robinson pointed out that before Kippax’s flurry of fours, Larwood had taken 14 wickets at 18.3 runs in the series. After, he managed only four wickets for 472 runs. Kippax followed up with 41 in the second innings, as Australia fell to their third consecutive defeat in the rubber
and lost the Ashes.
Kippax completed the series with scores of 3 and 51 at Adelaide
, and 38 and 28 in Australia’s only winning effort, at the MCG
. He received criticism in that, “his play was too delicately tuned for the hard business of winning matches.” Nevertheless, Kippax had another outstanding domestic season in 1929–30, hitting four centuries in his 744 runs, at an average of 62. This time, he was one of the first picked to go to England.
The 1930 tour of England was dominated by the emergence of Don Bradman. Kippax finished second to Bradman in the first-class averages and aggregates, scoring 1451 runs at 58.04. He hit a century in each innings of the match with Sussex
. In the Tests, Kippax passed fifty four times in seven innings, without going on to a hundred. He shared two big partnerships with Bradman: 192 in the second Test at Lord's
and 229 in the third Test at Leeds
. However, Wisden rated his 64 not out on a wet wicket
in the first Test at Nottingham
as his best effort and summarised his tour thus:
In the 1930–31 home series against the West Indies, Kippax began with what was to be his highest score in Test cricket (146 in under four hours) in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval
. This was the first Test century in matches between the two teams. He made 84 in the third Test at Brisbane, sharing a partnership of 193 with Bradman. However, Wisden called Kippax’s knock “unsteady” and he failed in his remaining three Test innings. For NSW, he hit two centuries in the Sheffield Shield.
The next season began badly for Kippax. Playing in a minor match at Parkes
(in rural NSW) on a matting wicket
, he had his nose broken by a delivery that bounced erratically — it hit a peg accidentally left under the mat when it was laid out. On 6 November 1931, during NSW’s first match of the season at Brisbane, he was struck a severe blow to the temple by a rising ball from fast bowler
Pud Thurlow
. Taken to hospital, he retired from the match, but was selected for the first Test against South Africa, but scored only one run. He missed the second Test through injury, while his replacement Keith Rigg
scored an impressive century on debut.
Kippax came back for the third Test at Melbourne
and rewarded the faith of the selectors by scoring 52 and 67, his two highest first-class innings of the season. However, his best knock
of the summer came on another rain-affected pitch at Melbourne in the final Test. He batted “serenely” to top score with an elegant 42. The entire South Africa team only managed 36 and 45 in their two completed innings on a “treacherous” wicket. As compensation for his lack of runs, Kippax led NSW to victory over Victoria in late January, which clinched the Sheffield Shield title for the state. During the winter of 1932, Kippax joined a private team that toured Canada and the USA, a tour organised by ex-Test bowler Arthur Mailey
. Teammates noticed that his confidence was shaken by the blows to the head, and he no longer employed his famous hook shot.
England toured during the 1932–33 season, and played the infamous "Bodyline
" series. While the tactic of using short-pitched bowling
and close-in fielders on the leg side
was originally conceived to stop Don Bradman’s phenomenal run-making, Bodyline was used against all the Australian batsmen. Kippax and the other Australian batsmen were adept at playing long innings and supporting Bradman in big partnerships—in Tests, Kippax had, in the past, featured in three stands
of over 100 with Bradman—so the English were looking to undermine his confidence as well.
Kippax secured his Test place with 179 against Queensland at the Gabba
in mid-November 1932. A fortnight later, he led NSW against the tourists and failed in both innings as his side suffered a heavy defeat. Selected for the first Test at Sydney, Kippax looked very uncomfortable in losing his wicket twice to the spearhead of the Bodyline attack, Harold Larwood. After batting at number four
in the first innings, Kippax was demoted to bat behind his NSW understudy Stan McCabe
in the second innings; McCabe had scored a brilliant 187 not out in the first innings, defying Bodyline with aggressive hook shots. Irrespective of the change, Australia collapsed for 164, leaving England needing just one run for victory in their second innings. In the dressing room, Kippax commented of Larwood, "he's too bloody fast for me".
Omitted from the remainder of the series, Kippax became the first of several Australian batting “casualties” during the summer. While most sympathised with his misfortune, and attributed his lack of confidence to the blows he received the previous season, Larwood was more succinct: “Kippax was scared stiff and he let you see it”. Employed as a radio commentator, Kippax spent the remainder of the series covering the Tests, and he also delivered a ten-minute round up of each day’s play for the BBC
, broadcast in England through its Empire
short wave service.
Outspoken in his criticism of Bodyline, Kippax combined with the journalist Eric Barbour to write the book Anti Body-Line, released just months after the tour ended. A short, polemical work aimed at an English readership, the book warned of the danger to the game if Bodyline was allowed as a legitimate tactic. Although the book kept the controversy raging, it was “calmly expressed’ and “reasonable”.
After several seasons of struggling for runs, Kippax returned to form in 1933–34. Against Queensland at New Year, he hit 125 and shared a stand of 363 in only 135 minutes with Bradman. Altogether, he made four centuries and averaged almost 72 to earn selection for the 1934 tour of England. Passed over for the vice-captaincy of the team in favour of Bradman, Kippax had the confidence of knowing that the Australian Board of Control
had reached an agreement with the MCC
that the Australians would not have to face Bodyline during the tour.
, Kippax recovered with 89 at Leicester before contracting a heavy dose of influenza
that forced him to miss the next four matches. On his return, he struggled for form, and was not chosen for the first Test. Kippax was the third selector on tour, and was out-voted by his fellow selectors, so the press speculated that the decision caused disharmony within the team. Australia won the game and Kippax failed in the next two tour matches, so he missed out on the next Test at Lord's, which was lost.
Struck down by serious illness again, Kippax was hospitalised with a (wrongly) suspected case of diphtheria
and forced to miss the drawn Tests at Old Trafford and Leeds. Eventually, he returned to play in late July and hit form at the right time. With the series locked at one-all, and a timeless Test to be played at The Oval
to decide the Ashes, Australia needed to strengthen the batting. The experienced Kippax replaced the struggling youngster Len Darling
in the middle order
, for what proved to be his last Test.
The way the game unfolded, Kippax had little responsibility with the bat. A record partnership of 451 between Bill Ponsford and Don Bradman meant that Australia was four for 574 by the time he got to the crease. Kippax made 28 in just under an hour as Australia amassed 701 runs. He scored just 8 in the second innings, but Australia were victorious by 562 runs and regained the Ashes. Six days later, Kippax celebrated by making 250 against the Sussex
bowling attack, his highest score in England and his first double century for more than five years. This boosted his first-class above 50 on what had been a tour of mixed fortunes.
, and ended his first-class career with four Sheffield Shield matches for the state. His last century came in mid-December 1934, when he scored 139 against South Australia
at the Adelaide Oval. This gave Kippax a total of 32 centuries for NSW, a record tally, subsequently beaten only by Michael Bevan
. His 6,096 runs (at 70.06) for NSW in Sheffield Shield matches contributed to five title-winning campaigns. In addition to his 12,792 first-class runs, Kippax scored over 7,000 runs at an average of 53 for his grade club Waverley. Don Bradman summed up Kippax's place in Australian cricket during his career:
Kippax captained NSW in 45 first-class matches, winning 19, drawing 17 and losing only nine. His commentary of the fourth Test at Adelaide in early 1937 via a radio-telephone service made history as the first direct radio broadcast of a cricket match from Australia to England.
during 1926. It became a very profitable business. Two years later, on 20 April 1928 at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, he married Mabel Charlotte Catts. The New South Wales Cricket Association
elected him a life member in 1943–44. In February 1949, Kippax was awarded a joint testimonial
with his old teammate, wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield. Played between Lindsay Hassett
’s XI and Arthur Morris
’s XI at the SCG
, the match raised ₤6,030, which was split evenly between Kippax and Oldfield. In later years, Kippax was an A-grade golf
er at The Lakes course in Sydney and a club champion lawn bowler
at Double Bay
.
A "... small, gentle man with a kindly way about him", Kippax enjoyed a great reputation within the game; he was “a man of personal charm”. As elegant off the field as he was on, the cricket writer David Frith
recorded that, “to visit him in his Bellevue Hill home was to be transported into a calm 1930s world of silk smoking jacket
, cigarette holder
and art deco
trimmings.” Kippax died of heart disease
at his home in Bellevue Hill
on 5 September 1972. The Kippax Centre
in the Canberra
suburb of Holt
is named after him.
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er for New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
(NSW) and Australia
Australian cricket team
The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...
. Regarded as one of the great stylists of Australian cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
during the era between the two World Wars, Kippax overcame a late start to Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
to become a regular in the Australian team between the 1928–29 and 1932–33 seasons. A middle-order batsman, he toured England twice, and at domestic level was a prolific scorer and a highly considered leader of NSW for eight years. To an extent, his Test figures did not correspond with his great success for NSW and he is best remembered for a performance in domestic cricket—a world record last wicket partnership
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
, set during a Sheffield Shield
Pura Cup
The Sheffield Shield is the domestic cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams from the six states of Australia. Prior to the Shield being established, a number of intercolonial matches were played. The Shield, donated by Lord Sheffield, was first contested during...
match in 1928–29. His career was curtailed by the controversial Bodyline
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
tactics employed by England on their 1932–33 tour of Australia; Kippax wrote a book denouncing the tactics after the series concluded.
Kippax was an “impeccably correct and elegant batsman, [with] an upright, easy stance at the wicket; like his schoolboy idol Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
, he rolled his sleeves between wrist and elbow and excelled with the late cut”, who was probably at his peak during the 1920s. His omission from the 1926 team to tour England caused great controversy at the time—especially as he hit a brilliant 271 not out against Victoria
Victorian Bushrangers
The Victorian cricket team, nicknamed the Bushrangers, is an Australian cricket team based in Melbourne, that represents the state of Victoria. It is administered by Cricket Victoria and draws its players from Melbourne's Premier Cricket competition...
on the eve of selection. Kippax was well into his thirties by the time he became a consistent selection for the Test team. Highly regarded by both fellow players and spectators, Kippax's innings of 83 in the Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
Test of 1930 induced Neville Cardus
Neville Cardus
Sir John Frederick Neville Cardus CBE was an English writer and critic, best known for his writing on music and cricket. For many years, he wrote for The Manchester Guardian. He was untrained in music, and his style of criticism was subjective, romantic and personal, in contrast with his critical...
to comment that, "he pleased the eye of the connoisseur all the time."
Early years
The third son of Arthur Percival Howell Kippax and his wife Sophie Estelle (née Craigie), Alan Kippax was born in the inner-city SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Paddington
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
. He attended both Bondi and Cleveland Street Public schools. At 14, Kippax joined Waverley (now Eastern Suburbs Cricket Club) and was a regular in the first-grade team
Sydney Grade Cricket
Sydney Grade Cricket is a cricket competition played in Sydney, Australia. The competition began in 1893 when a number of clubs, which had been playing for many years on an ad hoc basis, voted to create a formal competition structure....
within three years. At this stage, first-class cricket
First-class cricket
First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
was suspended because of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, but when competition resumed in the 1918–19 season he made his debut for New South Wales
New South Wales Blues
The New South Wales cricket team are an Australian first class cricket team based in Sydney, New South Wales...
(NSW). However, the state possessed a lot of batting
Batting (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke...
talent, which was supplemented by the return to Australia of the Australian Imperial Forces cricket team
Australian Imperial Forces cricket team
The Australian Imperial Forces cricket team toured England between May and September 1919, playing 28 first-class matches after the First World War. Its overall record was 12 wins, 4 losses and 12 draws...
that played in England after the armistice
Armistice
An armistice is a situation in a war where the warring parties agree to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, but may be just a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace...
. Therefore, Kippax’s opportunities were restricted for a number of seasons. He also played a lot of baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
with the Waverley Baseball Club (usually at third base
Third Base
is a 1978 Japanese film directed by Yōichi Higashi.-External links:...
) and represented Australia against touring teams from American universities.
Vernon Ransford
Vernon Seymour Ransford was an Australian cricketer who played in 20 Tests between 1907 and 1912. His best series was the 1909 tour of England when he topped the Australian batting averages, helped by a career best score of 143 not out. The following year he was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year...
, he made only two half-centuries in nine innings. In the 1922–23 season, Kippax became a regular for NSW, scoring 631 runs at 90.14. and led the side's first-class averages. The next season he hit 248 in only 316 minutes against South Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
(SCG), then toured New Zealand with the NSW team skippered by Charlie Macartney. Kippax made two centuries in his 461 runs (average 92.2) on the tour.
He quickly won the respect of his fellow players and the spectators for his approach to the game. Alan McGilvray
Alan McGilvray
Alan David McGilvray AM MBE was an Australian cricketer who played several first-class seasons for New South Wales in the mid-1930s before becoming the doyen of Australian cricket commentators...
describes Kippax's demeanour and presence on the field:
... meticulous in his dress and his life, a man with a squeaky-clean image who would never raise his voice or allow his emotions to run away with him ... His shirt would always be buttoned the same way, the crease would always be sharp in his trousers, no hair would ever be out of place. He was an admirable engaging man.
Journalists employed many superlatives to describe the Kippax style. Ray Robinson thought that Kippax's batting "had a silky quality not seen in any other player of his time or since"; he captivated the crowds with his late cut when he, "made a lissom bow over the ball and stroked it away with the bat's face downward, as if to squeeze the ball into the ground". His favourite hook shot propelled the ball "with such unhurried ease that the punishing power of the stroke was revealed only in the way the ball smacked against the fence." Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
believed him to be the best exponent of the hook shot in the game.
International career
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
. In the Sheffield Shield he had scores of 127, 122 and 31, 212 not out and 40, earning him a first Australian cap (at the age of 27) in the final Test of the Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
series against England at Sydney. Sharing a 105 run partnership with Bill Ponsford
Bill Ponsford
William Harold "Bill" Ponsford MBE was an Australian cricketer. Usually playing as an opening batsman, he formed a successful and long-lived partnership opening the batting for Victoria and Australia with Bill Woodfull, his friend and state and national captain...
in the first innings, Kippax impressed with a score of 42 from number seven
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
. Wisden
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
Wisden Cricketers' Almanack is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom...
commented that the partnership “turned the fortunes of the game”, and Australia went on to victory.
Shock omission
Another 585 runs at 83.57 in the 1925–26 season looked likely to win Kippax a place in the team to tour England in 1926. He failed in the Test-trial match staged in early December, but made the highest score of the Sheffield Shield competition, 271 not out (in 423 minutes) against Victoria at the SCG, which effectively steered NSW to the title. The subsequent omission of Kippax from the touring team is a famous blunder in Australian cricket history. Although Kippax was nearly 29, former Australian captain Monty NobleMonty Noble
Montague Alfred Noble was an Australian cricketer who played for New South Wales and Australia. A right-hand batsman, right-handed bowler who could deliver both medium pace and off-break bowling, capable fieldsman and tactically sound captain, Noble is considered as one of the great Australian...
called the non-selection a “crime against the cricketing youth of Australia”. His omission is usually attributed to "interstate parochialism" and was a "triumph of dullness over batting artistry." Australia surrendered the Ashes on the tour, with much of the blame for the loss directed at the team’s skipper, Herbie Collins
Herbie Collins
Herbert Leslie Collins was an Australian cricketer who played 19 Tests between 1921 and 1926. An all-rounder, he captained the Australian team in eleven Tests, winning five, losing two with another four finishing in draws...
. After he returned to Australia, administrators relieved Collins of the captaincy of his grade team and NSW, thus creating an opportunity for Kippax.
Captain of NSW
Archie Jackson
Archibald "Archie" Jackson , occasionally known as Archibald Alexander Jackson, was an Australian cricketer who played eight Test matches as a specialist batsman between 1929 and 1931. A teenage prodigy, he played first grade cricket at only 15 years of age and was selected for New South Wales at 17...
, Stan McCabe
Stan McCabe
Stanley Joseph McCabe was an Australian cricketer who played 39 Test matches for Australia from 1930 to 1938. A short, stocky right-hander,...
and (Sir) Donald Bradman
Donald Bradman
Sir Donald George Bradman, AC , often referred to as "The Don", was an Australian cricketer, widely acknowledged as the greatest batsman of all time...
”. He hit a century
Century (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...
in each innings against Queensland
Queensland Bulls
The Queensland cricket team, nicknamed the Bulls, are the Brisbane-based Queensland representative cricket team in Australia's domestic cricket tournaments:*Sheffield Shield, 4-day matches with first-class status, since the 1926/27 season...
in their inaugural Sheffield Shield match in 1926–27. The following season he registered the highest score of his career, 315 not out in 388 minutes versus Queensland at the SCG. Bradman wrote of this performance, "... although they say Victor Trumper
Victor Trumper
Victor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
was even more beautiful to watch, it is hard to conceive more graceful batting than our skipper produced on that occasion." Kippax ended the season with 926 runs at an average of 84.18.
The Test selectors still had Kippax under consideration and during March 1928, he again toured New Zealand with an Australian second team, but failed to pass 40 in the seven innings he played. Restored to the Test team for the beginning of the 1928–29 Ashes series, Kippax made just 50 runs in four innings. Australia slipped to two heavy defeats and Kippax's place was in jeopardy.
During the second Test at Sydney, Kippax was the central figure in the most controversial incident of the summer. Early in Australia’s first innings, Kippax had nine runs on the board, when:
Hal Hooker
John Edward Halford "Hal" Hooker was an Australian first class cricketer who played for New South Wales. A tall fast-medium bowler, he stood at 6ft and was capable of swinging the ball both ways....
stuck with his captain as the score gradually mounted and the opposition’s frustrations grew.
By the end of play, Kippax was well beyond his double century. The following day, when the stand was finally broken after 307 runs had been added in 304 minutes, Kippax stood on 260 not out. This "most remarkable of all world batting records," still stands today as the highest last-wicket partnership in first-class cricket.
Retaining his place for the third Test that started just days later on the same ground, Kippax maintained his superb form and hit his maiden Test century in Australia’s first innings. With Australia struggling against the pace
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
of England's Harold Larwood
Harold Larwood
Harold Larwood was an English cricket player, an extremely accurate fast bowler best known for his key role as the implementer of fast leg theory in the infamous "bodyline" Ashes Test series of 1932–33....
, Kippax steadied the innings and then launched an assault on Larwood, hooking
Batting (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, batting is the act or skill of hitting the cricket ball with a cricket bat to score runs or prevent the loss of one's wicket. A player who is currently batting is denoted as a batsman, while the act of hitting the ball is called a shot or stroke...
him for four boundaries. Journalist Ray Robinson pointed out that before Kippax’s flurry of fours, Larwood had taken 14 wickets at 18.3 runs in the series. After, he managed only four wickets for 472 runs. Kippax followed up with 41 in the second innings, as Australia fell to their third consecutive defeat in the rubber
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
and lost the Ashes.
Kippax completed the series with scores of 3 and 51 at Adelaide
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
, and 38 and 28 in Australia’s only winning effort, at the MCG
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
. He received criticism in that, “his play was too delicately tuned for the hard business of winning matches.” Nevertheless, Kippax had another outstanding domestic season in 1929–30, hitting four centuries in his 744 runs, at an average of 62. This time, he was one of the first picked to go to England.
Test regular
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
. In the Tests, Kippax passed fifty four times in seven innings, without going on to a hundred. He shared two big partnerships with Bradman: 192 in the second Test at Lord's
Lord's Cricket Ground
Lord's Cricket Ground is a cricket venue in St John's Wood, London. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club and is the home of Middlesex County Cricket Club, the England and Wales Cricket Board , the European Cricket Council and, until August 2005, the...
and 229 in the third Test at Leeds
Headingley Stadium
Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....
. However, Wisden rated his 64 not out on a wet wicket
Sticky wicket
Sticky wicket is a metaphor used to describe a difficult circumstance; it originates from difficult circumstances in the sport of cricket.-Origins:...
in the first Test at Nottingham
Trent Bridge
Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...
as his best effort and summarised his tour thus:
Essentially a stylist, Kippax was in every sense a great batsman, for he could suit his game to the needs of the occasion. A beautiful driver to the offFielding (cricket)Fielding in the sport of cricket is the action of fielders in collecting the ball after it is struck by the batsman, in such a way as to either limit the number of runs that the batsman scores or get the batsman out by catching the ball in flight or running the batsman out.Cricket fielding position...
, he cut at times in delightful fashion, the slower wicketsCricket pitchIn the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
of England affecting his abilities in that direction in only the slightest degree.
In the 1930–31 home series against the West Indies, Kippax began with what was to be his highest score in Test cricket (146 in under four hours) in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval
Adelaide Oval
The Adelaide Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia, located in the parklands between the Central Business District and North Adelaide...
. This was the first Test century in matches between the two teams. He made 84 in the third Test at Brisbane, sharing a partnership of 193 with Bradman. However, Wisden called Kippax’s knock “unsteady” and he failed in his remaining three Test innings. For NSW, he hit two centuries in the Sheffield Shield.
The next season began badly for Kippax. Playing in a minor match at Parkes
Parkes, New South Wales
- Transport :Parkes has a local bus service provided by Western Road Liners, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The Indian Pacific also stops twice a week, as well as the Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by CountryLink, which heads to Broken Hill on Mondays and Sydney on...
(in rural NSW) on a matting wicket
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
, he had his nose broken by a delivery that bounced erratically — it hit a peg accidentally left under the mat when it was laid out. On 6 November 1931, during NSW’s first match of the season at Brisbane, he was struck a severe blow to the temple by a rising ball from fast bowler
Fast bowling
Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...
Pud Thurlow
Pud Thurlow
Hugh Motley 'Pud' Thurlow was an Australian cricketer who played in one Test in 1932.-References:...
. Taken to hospital, he retired from the match, but was selected for the first Test against South Africa, but scored only one run. He missed the second Test through injury, while his replacement Keith Rigg
Keith Rigg
Keith Edward Rigg was an Australian cricketer who played in 8 Tests from 1931 to 1937. His cousin, Colin McDonald, also played for Victoria and Australia. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne.-External links:...
scored an impressive century on debut.
Kippax came back for the third Test at Melbourne
Melbourne Cricket Ground
The Melbourne Cricket Ground is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne and is home to the Melbourne Cricket Club. It is the tenth largest stadium in the world, the largest in Australia, the largest stadium for playing cricket, and holds the world record for the highest light...
and rewarded the faith of the selectors by scoring 52 and 67, his two highest first-class innings of the season. However, his best knock
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
of the summer came on another rain-affected pitch at Melbourne in the final Test. He batted “serenely” to top score with an elegant 42. The entire South Africa team only managed 36 and 45 in their two completed innings on a “treacherous” wicket. As compensation for his lack of runs, Kippax led NSW to victory over Victoria in late January, which clinched the Sheffield Shield title for the state. During the winter of 1932, Kippax joined a private team that toured Canada and the USA, a tour organised by ex-Test bowler Arthur Mailey
Arthur Mailey
Arthur Alfred Mailey was an Australian cricketer who played in 21 Test matches between 1920 and 1926....
. Teammates noticed that his confidence was shaken by the blows to the head, and he no longer employed his famous hook shot.
Bodyline series
Bodyline
Bodyline, also known as fast leg theory bowling, was a cricketing tactic devised by the English cricket team for their 1932–33 Ashes tour of Australia, specifically to combat the extraordinary batting skill of Australia's Don Bradman...
" series. While the tactic of using short-pitched bowling
Bouncer (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bouncer is a type of delivery, usually bowled by a fast bowler. It is pitched short so that it bounces on the pitch well short of the batsman and rears up to chest or head height as it reaches the batsman.Bouncers are used tactically to drive the batsman back on to his...
and close-in fielders on the leg side
Leg side
The leg side, or on side, is defined to be a particular half of the field used to play the sport of cricket.From the point of view of a right-handed batsman facing the bowler, it is the left hand side of the cricket field...
was originally conceived to stop Don Bradman’s phenomenal run-making, Bodyline was used against all the Australian batsmen. Kippax and the other Australian batsmen were adept at playing long innings and supporting Bradman in big partnerships—in Tests, Kippax had, in the past, featured in three stands
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...
of over 100 with Bradman—so the English were looking to undermine his confidence as well.
Kippax secured his Test place with 179 against Queensland at the Gabba
Brisbane Cricket Ground
The Brisbane Cricket Ground, commonly known as The Gabba, is a major sports stadium in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. It is named after the suburb of Woolloongabba, in which it is located....
in mid-November 1932. A fortnight later, he led NSW against the tourists and failed in both innings as his side suffered a heavy defeat. Selected for the first Test at Sydney, Kippax looked very uncomfortable in losing his wicket twice to the spearhead of the Bodyline attack, Harold Larwood. After batting at number four
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
in the first innings, Kippax was demoted to bat behind his NSW understudy Stan McCabe
Stan McCabe
Stanley Joseph McCabe was an Australian cricketer who played 39 Test matches for Australia from 1930 to 1938. A short, stocky right-hander,...
in the second innings; McCabe had scored a brilliant 187 not out in the first innings, defying Bodyline with aggressive hook shots. Irrespective of the change, Australia collapsed for 164, leaving England needing just one run for victory in their second innings. In the dressing room, Kippax commented of Larwood, "he's too bloody fast for me".
Omitted from the remainder of the series, Kippax became the first of several Australian batting “casualties” during the summer. While most sympathised with his misfortune, and attributed his lack of confidence to the blows he received the previous season, Larwood was more succinct: “Kippax was scared stiff and he let you see it”. Employed as a radio commentator, Kippax spent the remainder of the series covering the Tests, and he also delivered a ten-minute round up of each day’s play for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, broadcast in England through its Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
short wave service.
Outspoken in his criticism of Bodyline, Kippax combined with the journalist Eric Barbour to write the book Anti Body-Line, released just months after the tour ended. A short, polemical work aimed at an English readership, the book warned of the danger to the game if Bodyline was allowed as a legitimate tactic. Although the book kept the controversy raging, it was “calmly expressed’ and “reasonable”.
After several seasons of struggling for runs, Kippax returned to form in 1933–34. Against Queensland at New Year, he hit 125 and shared a stand of 363 in only 135 minutes with Bradman. Altogether, he made four centuries and averaged almost 72 to earn selection for the 1934 tour of England. Passed over for the vice-captaincy of the team in favour of Bradman, Kippax had the confidence of knowing that the Australian Board of Control
Cricket Australia
Cricket Australia, formerly known as the Australian Cricket Board, is the governing body for professional and amateur cricket in Australia. It was originally formed in 1905 as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket...
had reached an agreement with the MCC
Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club is a cricket club in London founded in 1787. Its influence and longevity now witness it as a private members' club dedicated to the development of cricket. It owns, and is based at, Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood, London NW8. MCC was formerly the governing body of...
that the Australians would not have to face Bodyline during the tour.
Final tour
Beginning the tour with a duckDuck (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a duck refers to a batsman's dismissal for a score of zero.-Origin of the term:The term is a shortening of the term "duck's egg", the latter being used long before Test cricket began...
, Kippax recovered with 89 at Leicester before contracting a heavy dose of influenza
Influenza
Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...
that forced him to miss the next four matches. On his return, he struggled for form, and was not chosen for the first Test. Kippax was the third selector on tour, and was out-voted by his fellow selectors, so the press speculated that the decision caused disharmony within the team. Australia won the game and Kippax failed in the next two tour matches, so he missed out on the next Test at Lord's, which was lost.
Struck down by serious illness again, Kippax was hospitalised with a (wrongly) suspected case of diphtheria
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an upper respiratory tract illness caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, a facultative anaerobic, Gram-positive bacterium. It is characterized by sore throat, low fever, and an adherent membrane on the tonsils, pharynx, and/or nasal cavity...
and forced to miss the drawn Tests at Old Trafford and Leeds. Eventually, he returned to play in late July and hit form at the right time. With the series locked at one-all, and a timeless Test to be played at The Oval
The Oval
The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...
to decide the Ashes, Australia needed to strengthen the batting. The experienced Kippax replaced the struggling youngster Len Darling
Len Darling
Leonard Stuart Darling was an Australian cricketer who played in 12 Tests from 1933 to 1937....
in the middle order
Batting order (cricket)
In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...
, for what proved to be his last Test.
The way the game unfolded, Kippax had little responsibility with the bat. A record partnership of 451 between Bill Ponsford and Don Bradman meant that Australia was four for 574 by the time he got to the crease. Kippax made 28 in just under an hour as Australia amassed 701 runs. He scored just 8 in the second innings, but Australia were victorious by 562 runs and regained the Ashes. Six days later, Kippax celebrated by making 250 against the Sussex
Sussex County Cricket Club
Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...
bowling attack, his highest score in England and his first double century for more than five years. This boosted his first-class above 50 on what had been a tour of mixed fortunes.
Legacy
On the team's return from England, Kippax handed the NSW captaincy to Test teammate Bert OldfieldBert Oldfield
William Albert Stanley "Bert" Oldfield was an Australian cricket player. He played for New South Wales and the Australian cricket team as wicket-keeper....
, and ended his first-class career with four Sheffield Shield matches for the state. His last century came in mid-December 1934, when he scored 139 against South Australia
Southern Redbacks
The South Australia cricket team, nicknamed the Southern Redbacks and known as the West End Redbacks due to their sponsorship agreement with local brewers West End, are an Australian first class cricket team based in Adelaide, South Australia, and represent the state of South Australia...
at the Adelaide Oval. This gave Kippax a total of 32 centuries for NSW, a record tally, subsequently beaten only by Michael Bevan
Michael Bevan
Michael Gwyl Bevan is a former Australian left-handed cricket batsman and a slow left arm chinaman bowler. He played 232 ODI matches for Australia, and was a part of the 1999 and 2003 teams that won the World Cup...
. His 6,096 runs (at 70.06) for NSW in Sheffield Shield matches contributed to five title-winning campaigns. In addition to his 12,792 first-class runs, Kippax scored over 7,000 runs at an average of 53 for his grade club Waverley. Don Bradman summed up Kippax's place in Australian cricket during his career:
This beautiful and stylish player was unlucky to emerge on the horizon of big cricketFirst-class cricketFirst-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
at a time when NSW had virtually an international side for its State XI. When his opportunity did come, Alan proved a real stalwart. In addition, his TrumperianVictor TrumperVictor Thomas Trumper was an Australian cricketer known as the most stylish and versatile batsman of the Golden Age of cricket, capable of playing match-winning innings on wet wickets his contemporaries found unplayable. Archie MacLaren said of him, "Compared to Victor I was a cab-horse to a Derby...
style must have influenced for good vast numbers of young boys. Unquestionably, the line of Trumper and Kippax has much to do with the grace and elegance which is more frequently associated with players from NSW than from other States.
Kippax captained NSW in 45 first-class matches, winning 19, drawing 17 and losing only nine. His commentary of the fourth Test at Adelaide in early 1937 via a radio-telephone service made history as the first direct radio broadcast of a cricket match from Australia to England.
Personal life
After a period working as a clerk, Kippax opened a sports store in Martin Place, SydneyMartin Place, Sydney
Martin Place, formerly known as Moore Street, is a pedestrian mall in the central business district of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Home to the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Macquarie Bank and other corporations, Martin Place is synonymous with corporate...
during 1926. It became a very profitable business. Two years later, on 20 April 1928 at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, he married Mabel Charlotte Catts. The New South Wales Cricket Association
New South Wales Cricket Association
The New South Wales Cricket Association is a sporting club who administer cricket in New South Wales, based at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Their trading name is Cricket NSW....
elected him a life member in 1943–44. In February 1949, Kippax was awarded a joint testimonial
Testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football and especially in the United Kingdom, where a club puts on a match in honour of a player for service to the club....
with his old teammate, wicketkeeper Bert Oldfield. Played between Lindsay Hassett
Lindsay Hassett
Arthur Lindsay Hassett MBE was a cricketer who played for Victoria and Australia. The diminutive Hassett was an elegant middle-order batsman, described by Wisden as, "... a master of nearly every stroke ... his superb timing, nimble footwork and strong wrists enabled him to make batting look a...
’s XI and Arthur Morris
Arthur Morris
Arthur Robert Morris MBE is a former Australian cricketer who played 46 Test matches between 1946 and 1955. An opener, Morris is regarded as one of Australia's greatest left-handed batsmen. He is best known for his key role in Don Bradman's Invincibles side, which made an undefeated tour of...
’s XI at the SCG
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
, the match raised ₤6,030, which was split evenly between Kippax and Oldfield. In later years, Kippax was an A-grade golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
er at The Lakes course in Sydney and a club champion lawn bowler
Bowls
Bowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
at Double Bay
Double Bay, New South Wales
Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Double Bay is located 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra.Double Bay takes its name...
.
A "... small, gentle man with a kindly way about him", Kippax enjoyed a great reputation within the game; he was “a man of personal charm”. As elegant off the field as he was on, the cricket writer David Frith
David Frith
David Edward John Frith is a leading cricket writer and historian. Cricinfo describes him as "an author, historian, and founding editor of Wisden Cricket Monthly".-Life and career:...
recorded that, “to visit him in his Bellevue Hill home was to be transported into a calm 1930s world of silk smoking jacket
Smoking jacket
A smoking jacket is an overgarment designed to be worn while smoking tobacco, usually in the form of pipes and cigars, or for domestic leisure.-Design:The classic smoking jacket is a mid thigh-length jacket made from velvet or silk, or both...
, cigarette holder
Cigarette holder
A cigarette holder is a fashion accessory, a slender tube in which a cigarette is held for smoking. Most frequently made of silver, jade or bakelite , cigarette holders were considered an essential part of ladies' fashion from the mid-1910s through the early-1970s, and are still widely popular...
and art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
trimmings.” Kippax died of heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
at his home in Bellevue Hill
Bellevue Hill, New South Wales
Bellevue Hill is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bellevue Hill is an affluent suburb, located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra....
on 5 September 1972. The Kippax Centre
Kippax Centre, Australian Capital Territory
Kippax Centre is a designated group centre located in the Canberra suburb of Holt. Named after cricketer Alan Kippax, it serves a sizeable area of suburban Belconnen, including the suburbs of Higgins, Holt, Latham and Macgregor. It includes the Kippax Fair shopping centre , an Aldi store and the...
in the Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
suburb of Holt
Holt, Australian Capital Territory
Holt is a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen. It was gazetted on 2 July 1970 and was named after Harold Holt, Prime Minister of Australia 1966-67. Streets are named after sportsmen and sportswomen....
is named after him.